Korean high-speed trains may run through the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said on Monday.

"The United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan expressed strong wills to adopt the Korean high-speed railway system during President Roh Moo-hyun's recent visit to those countries," the ministry said in a statement.
According to The Korea Herald, the ministry therefore plans to dispatch a task force jointly organized by the Korea Railroad Research Institute and the Korea Rail Network Authority to prepare for building railroads in the two nations.The UAE plans to invest $3 billion in setting up a 130-kilometer high-speed railway connecting the airports in the capital Abu Dhabi and the city of Dubai.
Azerbaijan also plans to spend $20 billion in building a 503-kilometer high-speed railroad from the capital Baku to the neighboring country Georgia. High-speed trains developed by the KRRI are currently under test operation at home and are to be in use by October next year. The railway will connect the capital with the country's southwest.
The Transportation Ministry also plans to enter the railroad markets of China and Brazil, and to form a council of government and industry experts to support the overseas sales.

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but the population of UAE is only around 2.5million (plus the expats and tourists and others, say 5million) i really dont think a highspeed rail line connecting UAE's captial and its financial centre is the best way to do it, i doubt they can ever recoup the investment. i believe planes would serve the purpose more economically. but then again, money doesnt seem like an issue in UAE anyway.

Of course it does. Money no matter how much doesn't last forever and sooner or later the stash built up from oil will be gone.

BTW, I don't think they can spend enough on the metro. The more extensive it is, the better it'll be for everyone.
It'll be really important to educate everyone to use it though because right now, loads of people would prefer to be stuck in traffic (but in their ferrari) rather than be seen in the metro. The guys running the thing have emphasized this though.

They WILL recoup their costs though, it'd make the city far less car-dependent

DUBAI — The Dh15.5 billion ($4.2 billion) Dubai Metro will be maintained and operated by international firms through a joint venture agreement with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). "We have gone to the marketplace and invited well-known international firms to bid for this work.

The RTA will make a public announcement in due course as the tender evaluation is presently under review," an RTA official told Khaleej Times.

The projected cash flow for the Dubai Metro is also described as "healthy." Specific details of the financing arrangements were sketchy, but will be "funded through various mechanisms including, but not limited to, metro stations sponsorship schemes." The official said: "We have received numerous approaches by private developers wanting to sponsor some of our stations because they realise the strategic importance of our railway stations to their businesses."

There will be 42 stations and, according to published reports, at least 15 of them look likely to be financed through sponsorship schemes.

The RTA commercial and investment department is also working with international consultants to develop Dubai Metro Land plots, the official said.

Late last year a representative of the Dubai Municipality denied reports that money had been borrowed to finance the project and said it was completely government financed.

However, many similar projects internationally are funded using project financing. This means that repayment is based on the future cash flows of the project.

Dubai Metro is also described "not as a nice-to-have project" but as a "need-justified" one. Although there have been no studies of what it would cost Dubai not to have a metro, such a study was considered unnecessary "as the prima-facie of traffic gridlocks and traffic pollution is staring everyone in the eye." Dubai is already plagued by traffic jobs especially at peak hours resulting in lost business hours and traffic pollution.

"The modernity of Dubai as an international city is also tied up with the implementation of Dubai Metro," said the official.

The Dubai Metro will be built in three phases. The first phase, known as the Red Line, will be completed by September 2009. A milestone in the construction of this line is said to be the construction of the first pier for the elevated route near Jebel Ali village at Shaikh Zayed Road, which is planned for June 29, 2009.

The RTA official also said that the RTA is planning to start phase two of the project, known as the Green Line, early, and that a contract announcement would be made shortly.

The RTA is also planning a railway network throughout Dubai to connect the major business centres and minimise the impact of traffic congestion. Final details will not be made available until the planning studies are completed, the official said. The aim is to provide a fully integrated transport system.

In line with this there are also plans to have a common ticketing system so that the ticket is transferable and can be used on any mode of transport.

It is being benchmarked against other international cities such as London, Singapore and Paris.

Dubai Metro is also described "not as a nice-to-have project" but as a "need-justified" one. Although there have been no studies of what it would cost Dubai not to have a metro, such a study was considered unnecessary "as the prima-facie of traffic gridlocks and traffic pollution is staring everyone in the eye."

Dubai: Emaar will finance a Metro station near the Burj Dubai, which will be the world's tallest building on completion.

"It is the first public-private sector agreement for the Dubai Metro project and many more will follow," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Emaar will spend Dh100 million on the construction of the station, which will be designed and constructed by RTA.

A corridor will link the station at Shaikh Zayed Road with Burj Dubai and its surrounding areas.

Al Tayer said the RTA recently signed an agreement with the Department of Civil Aviation for the construction of two stations in front of Terminals 1 and 3 of Dubai International Airport.

"[The] agreement comes in line with the RTA's policy to involve private sector in the RTA's projects," Al Tayer said. He said the station would serve the Burj Dubai community, including the largest shopping centre in the world.

Ahmad Thani Al Matroushi, Managing Director of Emaar, said: "We will provide all possible support to RTA in implementing its project to meet the transportation needs of Dubai."

9,000 men are working on the construction of Dubai's Metro system, reported Gulf News. At the current time, work is focusing on the diaphragm walls for the underground stations and then, from November, tunnelling work and viaduct construction will commence. A project official said that the design team for the Metro system included experts who had helped shape the interior for the Burj Al Arab and Dubai International Airport.